According to the latest reported figures here in the UK, the iPhone is slipping in terms of smartphone market share compared to the growing Blackberry base and the healthiest Android share to date. Compared with last year, phones using iOS software are down by 30% to just 18%, with Android leading on 45% and RIM’s devices rising to 22%.

Since there are many more Android devices on the market than their competitors handsets, it suggests that the wider choice offered by them is winning customers. This extended choice not only includes mobile phone models but also price and operator – Apple sells one phone, whereas there are many Android phones available, from many manufacturers. Users new to the latest breed of mobile phones are driving this change – 74% of new Android users haven’t previously owned a smartphone.

It’s possible that Apple’s slowing sales are at least partly driven by speculation over the next model. There is still no firm information about iPhone5, despite mounting rumours over specifications and launch dates, but users may be holding out for the next big thing which uses iOS. It’s also important to note that the above headline percentages only show proportion of share rather than the number of handsets actually sold, so iPhone sales may still have improved over last year.

The old retainers like the Symbian OS are understandably struggling in the new climate. In the UK, phones running Nokia’s Symbian software dropped from a third of the market to just 10 per cent. Nokia’s huge global brand of budget phones are massive in the developing world, but over here it’s all about the smart phone, and the recent Nokia N8 which used Symbian is unlikely to make a difference. Nokia’s upcoming Windows phone on the other hand, is likely to revitalize their fortunes in the UK.